Torn Down
by LightCreatesTheShadowLullaby
Summary: Alice has never had a nice life in reality, so she's been escaping into the virtual world of video games. Covered in bruises, scars, and blood, Alice sets out to beat the game "Sword Art Online." Does she intend to do it all alone? Along the way Alice meets Kirito and Asuna, and she is in pain when she sees Kirito and cries when she sees Asuna. Just what happened?
1. Training

I closed my eyes and tried to imagine my world. In my world, everything was peaceful; everything was fine. Nothing was out-of-place.

_The lively grass reached out their hands to the wind who caressed them along its fingertips before letting go. The blooming flowers that grew within the distant field were the brightest of colors. The vibrant green leaves on the treetops were swaying in motion with the wind as if it were their beat of the drum. Everything was sun-kissed and golden—_

The sound of a glass breaking made my eyes pop open and sent a cold shiver down my spine. I stared at my door, as if expecting something to happen in just a moment. Then, I heard yelling and heavy footsteps coming up the stairs.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" I heard the person say. This so-called person is my mother.

On reflex, I sprinted to the door and locked it. After I did, I took a few steps back as quickly as my feet could manage. When she was just a few yards away from my room, I silently ran to my window and opened it before jumping out of it. There was a tree right outside my window, but it's about five feet away from it, so there was a high possibility of slipping or falling, or both. I reached back inside to grab my bag with all the necessities and closed the window before I swung off the branch.

If you were wondering, this is reality. Does it answer your question of why I'd ever create a virtual world in my mind? Okay, good. Oh, and the name's Alice Douleur. Does it sound cool? Well, sorry to break it to you, but that's not the reason why my parents named me that. They named me 'Alice' because of her story in Wonderland. They hoped that I would be like her and get lost, but they know I'll wind up in front of them again one way or another. 'Douleur' means 'pain' in French. In short, they want me, Alice, in pain. Thanks for the parents, God. Well, my biological parents abandoned me, and the ones who adopted me hate my guts, given the reason behind my name. That's why I'm always thinking why they'd adopted me in the first place.

Today is the day the new MMORPG game "Sword Art Online" comes out! To be honest, I'm a Beta Tester. Surprised? I'm serious, though. If you thought my step-mother would break my Nerve Gear, don't worry about it. Nothing of mine is there. I live alone in an apartment near my school.

I unlocked the door and entered. The only light that shone was the one climbing through the window and onto my wooden floor. I didn't bother to turn on the light. I put on my Nerve Gear and lay down on my bed. _Another day in this world_, I thought. "Link start."

* * *

Moments later, I was transported to this amazing world where I can just be...well, _me_. I was wearing a dark green mini-skirt, to my utterly disgust, a white, Medieval-modern tunic with dark green and white laces that bordered the edges and elbow-length sleeves, white combat boots with dark green shoelaces, white fingerless leather gloves, and armor plates on my chest, elbows, and kneecaps. My appearance was a nice Mediterranean tan, piercing green eyes, and glistening, jet black, back-length hair.

For the next two hours or so, I was training nonstop. I could do everything that would've strained my muscles in the real world. I could sprint farther, jump higher, and slice through things more easily with a single skill.

Then, just when I was about to kill a boar with one hit, I was transported to the main plaza. I wanted to complain about it. I mean, I was in the middle of a kill just now. The Game Master just talked about how everyone was trapped in this virtual world game, and the only way to get out was to beat the game. Ah, yawn~ I don't care about any of that. It's not that hard...

"No...no...NO! I DON'T WANT TO DIE! LET ME OUT!" The tiny girl next to me—was so small that I didn't even notice her until she screamed—started to cry and ran to the barrier and hit her little fists on it._  
_

"Just shut up. Whatever you're doing right now isn't going to make a difference." This isn't very surprising to me. I stretched my arms out and yawned again before rubbing my eyes. I felt kind of tired, so I sat cross-legged right on the floor of the main plaza, looking at my surroundings as I did.

Why are they overreacting so much? They're such cowards who can't feed on their own. Why fear Death? You should fear not being about to live. What's the difference between those two? Well, you can still be alive without living because most people just exist. Death takes it all. Now, what do you think is worse? I'd say the latter because you only meet Death once, so what's the point of worrying about it now when you still have time left? Why rush?

Everyone received a mirror in their inventories. I took mine out and stared at it with boredom. Then, a light wiped away my vision for a moment. When I looked at the mirror again, everything was the same...except for the fact that my white hair showed instead of the jet black hair of my character. _No...no...no, I don't want this!_ I held my head in my hands with fearful eyes. I don't like my white hair... I was always picked on because of it, but that's not the reason why I hate it. It's all because it reminds me of a white camellia.

_"Please don't! No—AH!"_

* * *

Anyways, away from topic, I finally snapped out of my little trauma and am now hurrying to the nearing town. _Wait..._ I stopped walking for a moment and thought. _The crowd is going to be huge there. I should go to_, I thought as I checked my map, _the one due east of it. The crowd should be smaller. Okay, I've made up my mind.__  
_

I started running again. I'm in the middle of a field, so I kind of got distracted a few times... Anyways, I reached the town. There were only about five players or so here. _Good. That was what I was hoping for._

Looking at the lights in the sky, which I hoped were stars, many became clear in the dark, midnight sky. I needed to stop for the night. _No, this is my chance! Not many people know what to do right now. I have much to do before they're taken away from me. Night is my friend, not my enemy._

According to the time, it is currently three minutes before midnight. I'm nearly out of breath, but I keep going; killing the wolves in front of me. I glanced at my level and EXP for a moment. _Level 38, EXP 49.97 percent. It's not enough! It's still not enough! I have to do more! More! MORE! _I looked at my health level. It was in the red.

I cursed under my breath and jumped back on a high rock. I checked my inventory for a healing crystal, but it was for naught because I ran out. I fell back and stared at the sky. "This is what I get for not filling up on supplies before I train, _again_."

I counted the stars as I waited for time to move along so that Night was replaced with Day. I looked at the constellations and traced them with my finger as I said their names aloud. "Lepus," I said as faint as a whisper while tracing the hare's leg. "Canis Minor," I said with a small chuckle following behind it. "Hey, it's Taurus! Hey, Taurus the Bull!" I waved at him and laughed.

I've always had a love for the nightly stars and constellations. When I still lived with my so-called parents, I would always climb onto the roof—or the tree—to look at the stars. Sometimes, I fell asleep on the roof. The good thing about sleeping up there was that the sun would rise and wake me up around dawn so that I could swing myself back into my room without being noticed and that I could have nights without the yelling and hollering of my parents.

* * *

I woke up to the blistering sunlight melting my eyes. I rubbed them a few times to get out the last specks of light in order for me to be able to actually _use _my eyes without straining them.

"Did you sleep well?"

I stared at him for a bit, waiting for my vision to clear up, and let out a small shriek as I flinched back a few inches when it did. After I regained my posture, I let out a sigh of relief when I knew that he wouldn't do any harm. The guy had short, black hair, big, round, black eyes, a bit of a tan, and not many visible muscles. I checked my health bar and was certainly surprised to find it full.

"Did you...use a healing crystal on me?"

"Huh?" he questioned, but soon his facial expression softened, and he smiled as he look towards me. "Oh, you noticed?" To be honest, I was kind of shocked.

"Y-yeah..." I held the gaze until he looked away.

"What were you doing, sleeping out here?"

I didn't really want to tell him that I was sleeping here because I was low on health, so as I rubbed the back of my neck, I said, "Er...star-gazing?" He tried to hold in his laughter, but he couldn't, so he let it all out.

"Wait, star-gazing?" he asked as he wiped a tear away.

"Yeah, I was kind of serious there, you know."

"Oh, my bad."

"It's all right. It sounds kind of weird, doesn't it?"

"N-n-no! Not at all!" he said as he waved his hands in front of him. "Anyways," he started when he stopped waving around, "I'm Kirito."

"Ali—Ellinia. I'm Ellinia."

"From Maplestory, right?"

"Eh? How did you know?"

"I'm a gamer, you know."

"Oh, right."

After that, there was a huge, awkward silence between us. Then, Kirito spoke up. "Um...were you training last night?"

"Yeah, you could say so."

"Was it to get out of this Hell?"

I laughed and said, "No, no! That's not it." I let out a slight sigh and looked up at the sky. "I train because it is fun."

"Fun?" he questioned me curiously.

"Yeah. It just takes my mind off of things and let me be myself, you know what I mean?"

"You could say so. This game helped me through reality."

"It might be rude to ask this, but what's going on for you?"

"Well...I found out that my little sister was actually my cousin and that my mom is really my aunt."

"I can kind of see where this is going. Your mother...died, didn't she?"

"Yeah, so what's yours?" I went with gravity and fell on my back with my hands cushioning my head.

"I was abandoned at birth, my adoptive parents hate my guts, my mother wants to kill me, and that's about it."

"I have no words for your family," he joked. I let out a small chuckle to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, I'm with you there." I stood up and hopped off the gigantic rock. "Well, hope to run into you next time!" I began to walk away.

"W-wait!" I stopped and looked up.

"What is it—" I caught the healing crystals he threw at me just in time before it collided with my face.

"Use those! You ran out, didn't you? Oh, and nice catch!"

"Thanks!" _It's kind of embarrassing that he found out that I ran out of healing crystals, though._

* * *

I am staying at an inn in the village of Horuka. I sat on the bed and thought about Kirito. I reminisced that moment, and a weird shock disrupted my thoughts. I clenched my head in pain. The shock was like an electrical shock at a million volts, and the sound was like tuning a radio.

"Man...this hurts like crap."

The pain soon subsided in half an hour. _Why did that happen to me? That was certainly strange... _I put my thoughts aside and put on my armor. I walked downstairs and purchased some more healing crystals at a nearby shop before training. _I can't the same mistake again._

* * *

**Okay, this is my first SAO fanfiction. I hope you guys like it.^^ I tried to make this chapter longer, but it seems it got boring. I'm trying to make my stories' chapters longer, but I never intended them to be boring, so bear with me please. I do not own Sword Art Online. I do not own anything but my OC.**


	2. Swords and the Past

It's been a month since I've been stuck in this game. People have adapted here, and less chaos has been going on. That means more quiet nights while training. I don't sleep much as you can see; I don't eat much either. I mean, this is a _game_. I only eat like once or twice a week.

As I walked past a guy, I heard him whisper to the other one next to him. "Hey, did you hear? They found where the first boss is. They're meeting at..." That was enough for me. I let the wind carry me as I went to the awaiting meeting place. The blue-haired guy told us to go in parties, but I'm going solo. After I heard everything that I needed, I went to buy new weapons. Armor wasn't much of a problem. As long as I could move swiftly and quietly in it, I am fine with anything—well, _mostly _everything.

I entered the shop and looked around. The clerk asked me, "What can I get for you?"

"Can I see the best swords you have?"

"Ah, these are my _finest_ creations." He showed me three swords. I took the one on the left; it was a pale turquoise color with green emeralds as decorations, light as a newborn, long and sharp like a crystal, and shines like water in the sunlight.

It wasn't meant for me. I like heavy swords. If I were to bring this thing into battle, I would've had it slip out of my hand as I drew my arm back! It was so light that I wouldn't know if I did!

I put it down and took up the one on the right. Why did I skip the middle? It was _way less_ of my style. Why? It was freaking pink! Besides, not only that, it was tiny, like a hand dagger or something. Anyways, the one on the right was pure white like a dove's feathers, long, but not too long, and heavy. Just the way I like it. I swung it once towards the floor, and it felt as if the sword sliced through air. I couldn't even start to imagine how many lives would fall to this one weapon.

"I'll take this one."

* * *

It was finally time to face the boss. I'm right outside of the dungeon along with everyone else. Just as the doors open, I, alone, dashed through despite all the warnings, screaming, and words of the others from behind. _We finally meet, Illfang the Kobold Lord._ I ran at him silently, meaning without the shout like others would do when they attack. What's the point of doing that, anyway? One, you give yourself away, and two, you run out of breath more easily! He swung his large bone ax at me, but I dodged just in time and made a deep cut on his side, which reduced his first health bar by half.

"Go and help her!"

"STAY BACK!" I hollered loud enough that my words rang in the room. "I'll deal with this, _alone_." I made another slice on the boss, and he screamed. _Three bars left_. I went on "super-focus-and-accurate" mode. I looked for every opening that he had, scanning and searching here and there. Then, I went on "swift-and-silent-violence" mode. Too bad I only had one sword, but it'll have to do because this is my life on the line. I took my sword and did twists and turns around the boss, gliding my weapon across his skin and let it sink into his flesh. His HP dropped to one-third on his last health bar. I stabbed him once more before backing away a few feet.

Then, just in the corner of my eye, I spotted two people who didn't care to listen. When I looked back at the boss, he had a nodachi in his hand. _This is different from the Closed Beta Test._

As I stared at him, Illfang raised his arm and was about to drop his nodachi on me when the blue-head said, "WATCH OUT!" Then, I just remember him pushing me out-of-the-way while he took my blow. I slid on my back until I hit one of the pillars. "Gah...ah...ah. Damn it." I got back on my feet, but I was still panting heavily. I was wheezing at this point. I didn't think the game would recreate my asthma in here. I'm _screwed_. That literally knocked the air out of my lungs, leaving me breathless. With my blurry vision, I stared at him. Someone approached him. That was about it before the guy started attacking Illfang. Another player followed behind. I think it was the same two who didn't care to listen.

I look at the two, and when my vision cleared out again, the one I first notice is..._Kirito_. My head began to throb in pain again. I let go of my sword and clutched my head tightly, as if believing that I could squeeze out the pain and make it stop. "Make it stop..._please._" I was at the point of dropping to my knees and cry, and I did. "Make it stop...make it stop. Just stop this!" Tears were running down my cheeks as I screamed, but no one even came near me. I looked at the players through my tears. Except for Kirito and the one in the hood fighting, everyone else was staring at me with wonder. No one dared to make a move.

Then, I heard a scream. Not much of a scream, really. It was more of a shout, like the one before releasing the final attack. I'd recognize that voice anywhere. It was most definitely Kirito. Just thinking about it made my head pound even more. With that being said, I closed my mind to everything outside of me and let myself quiet down. It took a moment or two for my head to stop hurting, but it worked.

I slowly opened my eyes and blinked a couple of times.

"Are you all right?" a girl asked. For some reason, my body moved on its own. The next thing I knew, I was hugging her with fresh ribbons of tears on my face. I remember her asking if I was all right and all, but my mind kind of tuned her voice out and just let me cry. All the while, she patted my back and said that everything would be okay in the end, that I didn't have to cry anymore, that she was here for me.

When I finally stopped, I still didn't want to let go. There were a few sniffles here and there, but no more than that. "Sorry." I removed myself from her and wiped the last of my tears from my face, as if I wanted to erase the memory of them actually being there in the first place. Then, I stood up and walked over to get my sword. "I think I should leave right now... Farewell...Asuna." I began to walk out of the entrance, and I couldn't hold in the tears. Just as I let the door make the sound when it closes, I let everything out and just...cry. I don't even know why I did. I don't even know her. Her name just slid off my tongue as if it were the most beautiful song I've ever heard. It was on reflex. Do I know her?

* * *

After that incident with the boss, even though we killed him and cleared the first floor, people kept looking at me weird and gossip about the rumors, man and woman alike. I don't really mind. It's not my thing to, anyway. I'm kind of sad that I didn't get the rare drop, though. The Coat of Midnight looked pretty cool, but it suited Kirito more than it would me. The one thing that still bothers me is how I know Asuna. It certainly is strange.

I walked into the bar and sat down. The gossiping began again.

"Hey, hey, did you hear? She said she'd handle the Illfang, the first floor boss, but she ended up crying." _Those events did indeed happen, but they were certainly not related._

"She's one of the Beaters!" _Beater? Nice nickname, although it suits Kirito more. We're no more of a cheater than any of you, so the nickname doesn't really make sense._

"It's best to avoid her." _Should I take that as an insult or a compliment at this point? Call me a beast, but what good will that do? Oh, and I can hear you just fine from here. _My tea came, and I drank it with roughness and inelegantly. I was never much of a "girl" to start with. You can't blame me. After all, I grew up with a slightly different background from the majority.

"Oh, it's you. Mind if I join you?" I looked up to see, Michi, someone I met a few months ago. She begged me to join her guild, but I declined, knowing what would happen if I did. I didn't want to lose another—just forget what I just said.

"Do what you want. It has nothing to do with me."

Michi sat in the seat across from me and said, "You're still the same, Ellinia." I grunted, uninterested in what Michi had to say. "So, what are you doing here, on the second floor? Shouldn't you be training in the front lines right about now?"

"I'm here because I want to; is there a problem with that?" She shook her head, a bit out of fear. "Good, and no. I may be as powerful as the front lines, but never will I train with them. They make me sick. I play solo, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember. Playing solo until you get lonely—oops."

"I'm not going to get lonely," I replied with a bit of annoyance and irritation. "Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to _train_." I got up and walked out.

"Sorry..." It was barely a whisper.

_I guess I kind of went a bit too far, but she started it! Man, I'm even acting immature right now. Great, just great. _I stomped my way to a random place with lots of mobs to train at. When I calmed down and was not blaming Michi for everything, I noticed that I was right outside a cave. _This should be interesting_, I thought as I walked silently into the darkness that covered anything and everything that was inside the cave. To make it even more interesting, I started singing in a very childish voice with very creepy lyrics. One of my favorite songs: "Alice Human Sacrifice" by Vocaloid.

_"There once was a little dream."  
_

_"No one knows who dreamt it. It really was such a small dream."  
_

_"This made the little dream think... 'I don't want to disappear, how can I make people dream me?"  
_

_"The little dream thought and thought... And at last had an idea!"  
_

_"I will make people come to me...and they will make my world."  
_

_The first ALICE was a gallant red one__  
_

_Wielding a sword in a hand in the Wonderland  
_

_Slicing down everything in her way  
_

_This new ALICE deep in the woods  
_

_Was trapped as a wanted fugitive  
_

_If it weren't for the red path she made  
_

_No one would think she even existed_

_The second ALICE was a fragile blue one  
_

_He sang to the world in the wonderland  
_

_Filling regions with so many false created notes  
_

_This new ALICE was that of a rose  
_

_He was shot and killed by a mad man  
_

_It left a flower blooming sadly red  
_

_The one who was loved was now forgotten  
_

_The third ALICE was a little green one__  
_

_Very cute and dear in the Wonderland  
_

_She charmed people to her every beck and call  
_

_She made a strange green country  
_

_This new ALICE was the country's queen  
_

_Taken over by a distorted dream  
_

_She was afraid of losing to death  
_

_She would forever rule her country  
_

_During this two children went into the woods  
_

_They had a tea party under rose trees  
_

_An invitation from the castle from them was  
_

_The trump card of hearts  
_

_The fourth ALICE was two siblings  
_

_Their curiosity in the wonderland  
_

_Going through many different doors  
_

_Coming not too long ago in a yellow boat  
_

_The stubborn big sister  
_

_And smart little brother_

_Though they were the closest to Alice's Wonderland_

_They were never woken from their deep dreaming_

_Forever they wandered in the Wonderland_

I saw a light and went towards it. "Man, that wasn't interesting at all!" I am at the other end of the cave. "That cave was so not fun and scary like I hoped." I look at the scenery in front of me. "Whoa! This place is _beautiful_." I went up to the nearest tree and rubbed my palm against the bark. _It seemed so real._ I sat right under its shade and just breathed.

It was a huge, green forest back here. No one knows about it. There was nothing here but nature. _I'm kind of glad I am stuck in this game. I'm kind of glad that Sword Art Online included places like this. It's...peaceful._

* * *

Every day after my discovery, I've been coming here to cool down, I guess. It's like my own little secret hideout. Day after day, it was always the same thing. Every day, I would sit in the shade of that same tree that I first sat under when I first found this place.

I sat under the tree, like I said, and I heard footsteps echoing from the cave. Each step led to another doubt and worry. Scared, I stood up abruptly and shouted, "Who's there?!" At first, I though it would be Kirito, but the fact that the person standing in front of me was not him, I was proven wrong. He seemed to be in his own "little world" because he didn't look like he heard me.

"Whoa! This place is so pretty! What's it doing back here, behind the cave? No one would be able to see its beauty like _this_!"

"You are..." He finally noticed me.

"Oh! You were here? Sorry for disturbing you then. Carry on," he said with a formal and elegant bow, like an English man from Britain.

I just couldn't find the words to say what I wanted. I couldn't find the right actions. _Why do I keep meeting people like this? Why does it always have to do with something from the past or someone I knew? _My mind was spinning, but then, it stopped on two things: say the words "I missed you" and embrace. Those were what I meant to do, but I didn't. I just couldn't.

I covered everything up with these words in their stead: Just leave. You have no need to apologize—for anything. I sat back down and rested my back against the bark of the tree as I cushioned my arm on my knee. I closed my eyes and sighed heavily out of my nose.

"Sorry—" he said before cutting himself off to sigh. "I'll be going, then. Never mind me."

Then, he was gone. "Did you really forget me...? I hope you're just pretending to, Elliot." I put the back of my hand against my eyes to stop the tears from falling as I breathe heavily.

"I missed you."

* * *

**I hope you guys liked this chapter. I really do. I worked on this for many days, maybe even weeks. Testing has been going on, but I wrote this instead of studying like a good student. *laughs* Yeah, like I'm a good student like that. What a joke. I may be in the gifted and honor classes, but I won't study my butt off just because of a test. (I've dimmed down my coarse and violent language. You're welcome.^^) I think this is the longest fanfiction I will ever write on here. Haha, off topic. That's my part on being an Aquarius. I always change subjects from one thing to another, and people become pissed about it, especially my cousins since I did it all the time when I was a kid. This is also the longest note that I've ever written at the end of a chapter.**

**I am deeply sorry about Diavel. I just had to make him die. Sorry about that, really. I didn't think I could do anything with him even if I were to keep him alive. I just gave him a different death.**

**Okay, so I was going to make it a happy ending in this chapter with Alice and Elliot, but my mind just turned it upside down with a sad ending. Sorry. You have me to blame. It's not my fault that I am filled with negativity of despair, depression, sadness, and sorrow, though.**

**Ooh, who is this Elliot?^^ What is his relationship with Alice? To be honest, even though I'm the one writing this fanfiction, I'm also looking forward to what I come up with and actually put into words. I love my mind. It's great to be me. Hehe~^^**

**Oh, and I might make this into a fanfiction with Kandy in here again—but maybe with a different name. I just love her fanfiction on Fairy Tail about the two of us and our adventures. Her fanfiction is called "Dropped in Magnolia." I hope you guys like it as much as I do, and excuse the grammar, punctuation, and spelling. If you can read it and understand it, it's good enough.**

**I do not own Sword Art Online. I do not own anything except my OC and my story/stories. (Needed to include that in there; just didn't feel like it in the past.)**


	3. In Your Arms Tonight

After that day, all I would think about was Elliot. It was like he invaded my mind and planted himself there, not wanting to budge. Every second of every day, I would think back at the times when we used to hang out together. Everywhere I go, I feel like he's right there, next to me, watching over me. It's like he never left. And to think, he'd be the same after so many years. Those same fluffy-looking, curly, light brown locks, bright hunter green eyes filled with innocence, adorable black-rimmed rectangular spectacles placed upon the bridge of his nose, and naturally pinkish-red lips and cheeks. He's always been the cutest in my eyes.

Every day, I would wait in the place where we last met: the forest behind the cave. And, every day, I'm left disappointed. Right after school, I would log in and wait there as long as I can before I have to come back to the real world. There would be days where I would just stay logged in instead of sleeping because I want to see him. I want to apologize. I want to apologize _so badly_. I want to tell him that it was me; Alice. I want to ask him if we could go back to how we were when we were kids.

And thinking of everything I could do and everything I should do, I dozed off on the digital grass. I went back to the past again.

* * *

_A boy went up to me and crouched down to my eye-level. I continued to cry even though I knew he was there. I didn't feel like telling him to go away. "E-eh?! W-why are you crying? H-hold on a minute!" he stuttered as he waved his hands frantically in front of him. "It looks like I made you cry. Come on, please. Stop crying, okay?"_

_I continued to sniffle for a moment before breaking out again. "Waah! Ah, waah!"_

_I became surprised and stopped crying for a while when he cupped my face in his hands and said in a low voice, so low that only I could hear him, "Please, stop crying," before gently wiping away the tears from my left eye with his right thumb. "Sorry that I don't have a handkerchief with me at the moment." He had a shy smile upon his thin, pinkish lips. "Now, who's the bloody git that made you cry? I'll give him one hell of a knuckle sandwich." He winked at me._

_I giggled. "I would have never expected someone like you to say something like that." He laughed along with me, agreeing with that fact._

_"Oh, right. I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Elliot Wilson, son of Daniel Wilson."_

_"I'm Alice Douleur, daughter of none."_

_"Well, Miss Douleur, I hope we can become great friends." He reached his hand out, and I shook it—well, his index finger._

_"'Alice' is fine. Nice to meet you, Elliot." He stayed silent for a moment before chuckling._

_"You're a really cute girl, you know?" I knew he said it without any attaching feelings, but even so, I could hear my heart beating loudly. I thought that he might be able to hear it beat, too. I could only hope that he couldn't._

The last thing I could remember before waking up from my dream was that my heart was like a bomb with each beat as a countdown getting closer to zero and would make it explode any moment. I slowly opened my eyes to get used to the sunlight baring its fangs at me. I was in the shade of the tree, but I could still feel it biting me and burning the skin of where it touched, which made me feel as if it were a spreading fire leaving scars behind to show its existence. I looked around. No one. He didn't come today, either. I would track him, but he's not registered as my friend. My stupid tsundere side; I hate it. It's one of the scars that my fear of people left behind. Even to a guy like Elliot, I cannot control that side of me.

I made up my mind and hopped onto my feet. I was going to go search for him, even if it took me until the end of time. I sprinted off and went from town to town, trying to find Elliot. I had so many things I wanted to tell him face to face.

My left foot slipped on the bare ground and made me fall toward the ground. I landed on my face and ribs—and it hurt like hell. I didn't cry; I shouldn't cry; I didn't have the right to cry. I got up and continued to run until the sun left the sky. My muscles were _burning_, but I kept going._  
_

I needed to find Elliot and apologize.

* * *

It wasn't long before the sunset was upon us, and by nightfall, I was wheezing on my knees, ready to topple over from exhaustion. What was worse was that I still couldn't find Elliot.

I'm an idiot, aren't I? The answer is "yes."

I sat there, in the middle of nowhere, and started crying. "Idiot...idiot...idiot! You're such an idiot!" I yelled at myself as I hit the side of my head with the heel of my palm.

"It's not nice to say that about yourself." I looked up to see Kirito on the cliff, looking down.

"I'm saying it because I _am_ an idiot."

"You're a smart girl. Maybe a bit reckless, but smart nonetheless." He smiled.

"You're only right about the reckless part." I got to my feet and dusted myself off. "It's fancy meeting you here, though, considering this is in the middle of nowhere." I roughly wiped the tears from my eyes, not caring if he saw.

"I didn't expect to see you here, either. Besides, I train here all the time." He shrugged.

"Nice to know." I turned on my heel. "Well, bye."

"Ah, wait!" I stopped when I heard him say that before he jumped down from the cliff and walked over to me. I didn't turn around and began to walk again, but he took another step and held onto my hand. I half-turned towards him before looking down at our hands. "Oh, sorry," he apologized before letting go.

"What did you want to say?"

"Oh, um...I was wondering if you were...okay?" He sounded a bit nervous and unsure. It's not like I'd hurt him... Am I that scary?

"I..." I sighed. "No, not at all."

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, worry thick in his words.

"Not really..."

"Well, that's fine, too, I guess." He put on a smile again. "Do you want to go somewhere with me?"

I was reluctant, but I gave him the "okay" in the end. Kirito took me to an inn.

I sat at the table in the middle of our room and looked around. "What are we doing here?"

"No one else is here, and I know you're feeling really awful right now, so..." he trailed off.

"'So' what?"

"_So_ you can let it all out, I guess." I gave him a small smile. It didn't reach my ears, but the tips of my mouth curved, at least.

"Thank you," I said to him. However, I couldn't get the words all out before my voice wavered and I had a shortening of breaths. I covered my eyes with the heels of my hands with my elbows on the table to support my face in my hands. I let out little sobs here and there, and only a few cries were let out. All I really did was cry silently.

"No problem," he told me. I could hear the sincerity in his voice. It just made me cry harder. This time, more than just a few cries were let out.

I felt a hand run gently through my hair. Kirito pulled me into him so that I cried in his chest, and his arm was around me. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him closer. I clenched the back of his cloak tightly in my fists, not wanting him to leave me.

Somehow, I found it comforting and warm.

Just like how a family should be.

* * *

**I am _extremely_ sorry for not following my schedule as said. I really am. There is just so much work to do lately, and the tests are nearly here. I have lots of projects and studying to do. Also, I can't forget about the writer's block I'm having! I've been working on this one chapter for like two months. Forgive me. I will try to update the rest of my stories sooner or later since it's been at least half a year for a few of them and about two years for the others. Until next time, my fellow readers~^^**

**I do not own Sword Art Online. I do not own anything except my OC and story/stories.**


End file.
